Major Stupas at Ratnagiri

[Stupas at Ratnagiri, Orissa (Lat. 200 38’ N., Long. 860 20’ E.)]

This site has the distinction of having the largest number of stupas reported from any site in Orissa till date. The main stupa (Fig. 8) stands on the highest point, which is on the south-western corner of the hillock. The site was excavated under the directorship of Debla Mitra, superintending Archaeologist, Eastern Circle of ASI between 1958 to 61.

The super-structure of the stupa has disappeared, leaving the huge platform of burnt bricks and three courses of circular walls around a solid hub above the platform, but still the remaining structure in its ruins is impressive. The base of the stupa, having an extent height of 4.25 m, had an elaborate but symmetrical plan. The base is triratha in plan, with each ratha further divided into two, thus making five recesses and six projections on each side. Each side of the stupa faces a cardinal direction. Horizontally these projections had mouldings consisting of receding and projecting courses of bricks, of which some are chamfered and half rounded. This type of brick work must have produced a delightful light and shade effect (Plate-XIII). Excluding the projections it is 47 ft square (14.33 m), made of brick’s with a coating of lime.

The arrangement of the mouldings on the east and the west are quite similar, while that on the north and south are seen with few new features on the kanikas. The well preserved raha-paga on the south has two receding facets above the fourth corbel of two courses. The lower facet consists of two courses, while one remains on the upper one.

Up to what height the medhi extended and when the anda started and how it was, is difficult to infer. It is only on the basis of a wedge-shaped, 12 spoke wall converging towards the central round solid hub and a flimsy outer rim, having a diameter of 10 feet and 10 inches that it can be presumed that it had a circular anda over the square medhi. No evidence of any pradakshinapatha around the stupa at any level or staircase in any direction was reported.

The facing brickwork of the stupa is very neatly placed with chiselled and rubbed bricks. A thin layer of mortar is applied between two bricks as a result the joints are scarcely discernible. Brick of various sizes were used for construction, the largest size being 45.7x25.4x6.3cm. Small amount of paddy husks was found mixed with the clay of the bricks. The well baked bricks were neither too hard nor too soft as it was easy for chiselling and rubbing for fine finish.

Excavations in the centre of the stupa revealed that it had a solid core, made of regularly laid brick-courses. The foundation was made of rammed stone chips and earth varying in thickness. Below the foundation, a ruin of an earlier brick structure was found on the south-eastern corner of the stupa (Mitra 1958:36). No relics were reported. According to the excavator it might have been kept somewhere else other than at the centre, where she had not excavated or it could have been deposited at a higher level as was customary in stupas of fourth-fifth century and later (Marshall 1975:392). In the absence of evidences from within the stupa it is difficult to date it, but on the basis of the relative findings, the excavator believes that the stupa can be dated prior to ninth century CE (Mitra 1981:39).

At a later date when the super structure of the main stupa collapsed, restoration work was taken up in large scale. This restoration had completely altered its original plan. Two circular walls were erected around and above the polygonal base, giving the stupa a circular plan. The prime space between the drum wall and the facing of the base of the previous structure was filled in with soil and small brick-bats. In this period the stupa must have been provided with a pradakshinapatha both at the bottom (around the medhi) and in the space between the top of the lower (outer) wall and the base of the higher (inner) wall. Besides a wide quadrilateral compoundwall was also erected, enclosing a wide area around the circular stupa. The enclosure had bastions like projections on the corners and it was constructed of bricks, brickbats and stone fragments.

Compared to the earlier construction the walls of the later construction work were mostly of large brick bats with the outer faces roughly finished. The inner faces were left rough and uneven. The joints were wide and the mortar was made of coarse grained soil.

This building phase, according to Bandyopadhyay (2004:47) took place around thirteenth century CE. The area around the stupa is surrounded by several minor stupas of varying dimensions and base forms. This speaks of the exalted position Ratnagiri enjoyed in it’s hey days in the Buddhist world. These stupas are repositories of iconographic representation of the Buddhist deities, mainly Vajrayana deities.

Stupa 2

Stupa 2 is on the eastern side of Stupa 1 (Main stupa), built at a lower level near the edge of the hill. The stupa is tri-ratha on plan, measuring 9.98 m square. The construction work of this stupa is as good as the Main Stupa i.e. the facing bricks are nicely smoothened and chiselled. The bricks are of uneven sizes, the maximum size being 45.72 x 22.86 x 7.62 cm.

Inside the platform were three extant oblong chambers of different depths. The northern chamber is the deeper than eastern and western chambers. The purpose of these chambers was to store a large number of relics, although only from the northern chamber five inscribed terracotta plaques were found. The plaques have flat bottoms and are oval in shape, the front faces of the plaques have a raised rim around. Four out of the five plaques bear the single stamp impression of fifteen lines of letters in characters of the ninth-tenth century CE (Mitra, 1980, 43) so it’s obvious that they record the same dharani. The fifth plaque is broken and many lines are missing.